GRAND CHUTE (NBC 26) — It was an ugly weather Wednesday afternoon for the T-Rats at Fox Cities Stadium as they gear up for their 2025 season, which kicks off on Friday night.
Last year was the opposite of the gloomy weather in Appleton. It was a ray of sunshine, as the T-Rats made it all the way to the Midwest League Championship and they’re excited to build off of that heading into their second year under manager Victor Estevez.
“You just come to the field, show up, play hard, have fun and then we should have a good result this year too,” Estevez said.
Estevez won Midwest League Manager of the Year in 2024. He also won it the year before as well with the Brewers Class-A affiliate in the Carolina League.
“To be honest, I never think about that – okay I want to win the manager of the year this year now,” he said. “I just come to the field. I show up to the field. I give everything I got to our guys and then whatever happens at the end of the year – it happens.”
“I mean you can just tell right away if a manager is good or not,” said infielder and Brewers 2024 first round pick Blake Burke. “He kind of just lets us be ourselves, just go out there and play.”
The ball club is bringing back 17 players who at one point were a part of last year’s squad and for Estevez, he’s actually been around a few of these players for the couple of seasons. Which he says has enabled him to build good relationships, including one with infielder Jadher Areinamo, which he compared to a father-son relationship.
“Every time you have a good relationship with a player it’s easier to just connect and players get engaged right away,” said Estevez. “That's been helpful the last three years.”
While the goal is to win a Midwest League championship. The ultimate goal for Estevez is trying to build Arienamo and his teammates up so they can be major league players. Coming into 2025, the Timber Rattlers have five of the brewers top 30 prospects according to MLB.com: (Outfielder Yophery Rodriguez (No. 7), pitcher Bishop Letson (No. 15), and infielders Blake Burke (No. 17), Jadher Areinamo (No. 24), and Juan Baez (No. 27).
“I had Jackson Chourio my first or second year in Carolina and then like three years later, he’s in the big leagues hitting homers, stealing bases and making plays out there,” Estevez said. “That always feels really good.”
Estevez and the Timber Rattlers kick off their season at home against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday and first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.
